" Loughrigg Fell in the Snow "

Date & start time: Wednesday 8th February 2012 1.15 pm start.

Location of Start : Pelter Bridge car park, Rydal, Cumbria, Uk ( NY 365 060 )

Places visited : Loughrigg Terrace, Loughrigg Cave, Scatufs, Loughrigg Fell and back.

Walk details : 3.2 mls, 1030 ft of ascent, 3 hrs 30 mins.

Highest point : Loughrigg Fell 1088 ft - 335 m.

Walked with : Ann and the dogs, Harry and Bethan.

Weather : Sunny and blue skies but cloud building to the west of us.

After our Yorkshire outing, we returned to our Loweswater Valley to find the snow had melted away.

Rumour had it hiowever, that it was still winter wonderland south of Dunmail Raise

so we drove down to Grasmere and Rydal Water . . . and on to Pelter Bridge for a walk up the snowy Loughrigg Fell.

The car park at Pelter Bridge.

Not many spaces left on this lovely day but we managed to squeeze in.

Microspikes in action today as they turned the slippery paths into easily manageable tracks.

Up and over the slight brow and we have our first "walking view" of Rydal Water

[ I say walking view as we had just driven down the opposite side of the lake to get to the Pelter Bridge cap park.]

Rydal Lake was completely frozen over

and presented a delightful view from the wooden seat at the start of Loughrigg Terrace.

It was a little overcast to the west of here . . . but above us the skies were blue.

We were not alone . . . zooming in on the lakeside path . . .

. . . and across to Nab Cottage on the other side of Rydal Water.

The track climbs up to the first of two quarries.

Bethan returns to say that the couple approaching were friendly . . . she had already introduced herself !

The flat area is the top of the spoil heap from the second quarry

which is better known as Loughrigg Cave.

The dark entrance to the cave . . .	. . . and inside, the pool and stepping stones.

Looking out at the world . . . framed by the arch of the cave.

The view out included Nab Scar and distant Low Pike . . . the two southern arms of the classic Fairfield Round walk.

From the flat terrace, a view north towards Helm Crag.

Zooming in we could see both the rounded Lion Rock and the sloping Howitzer behind it.

The Lamb, more prominent from the Grasmere area, is lost in the jumble of summit rocks.

With the same zoom I panned round to the island on Grasmere

where we could see the boathouse and an adjacent patch of open water.

Leaving the Terrace below, we started the steep climb up through the old bracken towards the summit.

Heron Pike is now visible above Nab Scar but its more southerly aspect has meant that the snow line is higher.

The weather today just encouraged photography.

This was the wider panorama looking towards Steel Fell and Dunmail Raise.

Through the gap is the snow slopes of Skiddaw, some 16 miles away.

Ann climbs the last section of this steep snow to reach a more major path to the summit.

With everything white, finding the path up had been more tricky than it would normally have been.

There was no mistaking the summit though . . . which we reached a few minutes later.

The summit trig point must be magnetic as everyone seemed to be drawn to it . . . including ourselves.

The view from the top.

Click here or on the photo above for a Loweswatercam 360 degree annotated panorama.

We broke the spell and headed north a short distance to enjoy a late sandwich lunch.

Having spun round for the big panorama . . . I then concentrated on the view and zoomed in on the detail.

The top of Lonscale Fell joins Skiddaw in the distance as we look up the road from Grasmere Village.

A band of cloud is gradually building behind the Langdale Pikes.

Plenty of snow on The Band as it climbs up to Bowfell.

Looking down on the buildings of Loughrigg Fold and Crag Head.

A lone walker heads off south, in the direction of Windermere . . .

. . . but we take the path back to Rydal that we used on the way up.

This time we followed the main path down the opposite side of Loughrigg Cave . . . which was a lot easier.

Almost back to the car, we pass the buildings of Cote How . . .	. . . with their interesting stained glass side window.

Sums it up rather nicely !

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Technical note: Pictures taken with either Ann's Fuji Finepix Compact or my Canon G10/1100D camera.

Resized in Photoshop, and built up on a Dreamweaver web builder.

This site best viewed with . . . just a little more sunshine perhaps on the north side . . . where we were actually walking.

Go to Top . . . © RmH . . . Email me here

Previous walk - 5th February 2012 York and Sutton Bank with Jo

A previous time up here - 9th March 2010 Lily Tarn and Loughrigg Fell

Next walk - 3rd - 13th February 2012 Local Rambles